Hong Kong Free Press, the city’s new English news source founded by British multimedia journalist Tom Grundy, has broken Hong Kong records for online fundraising. More than 700 donors donated almost HK$600,000 (almost US$77,000) during the 1-month campaign to fund the launch of this non-profit English news source for Hong Kong. The huge groundswell of public support resulted in a final tally that reached 4 times the original HK$150,000 (US$19,200) target.

Launching this month, Hong Kong Free Press seeks to provide a platform with a diversity of voice and to bridge the language barrier between local Chinese and English media, raising local and global understanding of Hong Kong news. Contributors include Tom Holland, Stephen Vines, Howard Winn, Jason Ng, Surya Deva, Hemlock, Suzanne Pepper, Nury Vittachi and others.

Tom Grundy, Hong Kong Free Press Editor-in-Chief, said: “The response has been overwhelming up until the last minute of fundraising. We are very thrilled to have raised more than half a million dollars on FringeBacker. We considered Kickstarter and other platforms for the project, but – unlike other crowdfunding sites - FringeBacker is bilingual, has a good track record and allowed backers to donate in Hong Kong dollars.”